GCC interview with Melissa Walker

One quick thing before I move on to telling you about Melissa Walker’s wonderful new release and posting up her interview. The cover for N.K. Jemisin‘s novelTHE SHADOWED SUN (releasing next week!) is up on RT Book Reviews’ poll for Best Book Cover of the Month. Click to vote or for the temptation to add to your TBR pile! BTW, the author will be signing at BEA on Wednesday and reading at the New York Public Library that evening, so be sure to check her out!

And now, let’s talk about Melissa Walker’sUNBREAK MY HEART. Melissa has the kind of background my Vamped heroine, Gina, could really sink her teeth into. She has worked as ELLEgirl Features Editor and Seventeen Prom Editor. She manages I Heart Daily, an e-newsletter and blogs for ReaderGirlz, an online community for teens, and is the author of SMALL TOWN SINNERS, the Violet on the Runway series andLOVESTRUCK SUMMER.

UNBREAK MY HEARTBy Melissa Walker978-1-59990-528-0 / May 22nd, 2012

Praise for UNBREAK MY HEART:

“A super cute love story! Melissa Walker will inspire readers to never stop believing in true love.” —SUSANE COLASANTI, author of When It Happens and Keep Holding On

“A raw, real, and ultimately heartwarming discovery of what it means to be a true friend. Walker gets it exactly right.” —JENNIFER ECHOLS, author of Love Story and The One That I Want

BLURB:

Summer will be the season for Melissa Walker fans to fall in love all over again. UNBREAK MY HEART is told in alternating chapters that chronicle the year that broke Clementine Williams’s heart and the summer that healed it. Inspired by Melissa’s own experience sailing with her family as a teen, this is the perfect beach read for fans of Sarah Dessen, Deb Caletti, and Susane Colasanti.

Usually Clem would dread the idea of spending an entire summer sailing with her family—two parents, one annoying little sister, and no internet, all on one tiny boat; however, right now escaping her life on land sounds pretty good. Clem did something bad during her sophomore year, even though she didn’t mean to. She fell for her best friend’s boyfriend and thought that he was falling for her too. Now the school year is over, the truth is out and he’s been excused while she’s been exiled, leaving her with no friends and zero social life.

When she and her family set sail the last thing Clem is looking for is another romance, but perhaps it found her anyway. His name is James. He’s cute, funny, and best of all, doesn’t know anything about her past. He and his dad are sailing the same route as Clem and her family for the summer and he’s just the distraction Clem needs. Can he break down Clem’s walls and unbreak her broken heart?

INTERVIEW WITH MELISSA WALKER

Q. What is your writing process like? Are you a plotter or a pantser? Do you schedule time to write each day or are you a spree writer?A. I plot, but very lightly. I do a chapter by chapter outline but just a sentence for each chapter. I let the writing day fill in the details. And I have to write in the morning–I try for 1000 words before lunch when I’m on deadline, M-F.Q. What is the hardest part about the publishing process for you and how do you get through it? (For me, it’s copyediting and barbeque pita chips.) A. First drafts. I deal with iced coffee that’s as sweet as coffee ice cream.Q. We drop your hero or heroine on a deserted island. Quick, what are the three things he or she can’t live without?A. Her journal, her bathing suit and her little sister Olive (do people count)?Q. If your story were a film, who would you cast?A. Ooh, maybe Shailene Woodley!Q. Are there any contests or upcoming appearances/interviews/etc. you’d like to plug?A. Yes! Bloomsbury is giving away an iPod loaded with an Unbreak My Heart playlist–you just have to create a breakup playlist to enter. Info here: https://www.facebook.com/notes/bloomsbury-teens/announcing-the-unbreak-your-heart-playlist-contest-on-spotify/391423114232968Congratulations on your fabulous new release!Thanks!